Slovak PM refuses EU 'diktat' on migrant quotas

Slovakia's leftist Prime Minister Robert Fico said Tuesday he would rather risk infringing EU rules than implement mandatory refugee quotas adopted by the bloc, AFP reports.

"I would rather go to an infringement against the Slovak Republic than to respect this diktat of the majority, which was unable to push through its opinion using rational arguments and reach a consensus within the EU," Fico told Slovak TA3 news channel.

He was speaking shortly after EU interior ministers had pushed through a deal to relocate 120,000 refugees amid fierce opposition from central and eastern states.

Ahead of Wednesday's meeting of EU heads, Fico said he was ready to "block the summit."

"We will never back mandatory quotas, even if we are alone in this position," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"If someone thinks they're going to go 'boo' to (scare) us, they're very wrong."